When is the best time to post on LinkedIn?

Networking on LinkedIn as a business has changed considerably over the last decade. The platform is now home to no less than 38.1 million people who share motivational quotes, inspirational selfies, and enough #hustle to power a small nation each day.

To stand out from this cacophony of voices, timing is key. Most experts say publishing a post mid-morning and mid-week offers the best chance of making it stick. But is this a guarantee of success, or just the law of averages?

In truth, the golden LinkedIn hour depends on a multitude of factors including your sector specialism, topic, and intentions. Below, we explain how you can work out when to press ‘publish’ on a post, and how to time it to reach a watercooler-worthy audience.

When should I post from my LinkedIn profile?

Personal and professional posts on LinkedIn are very different. If you’re hoping to interact with your existing network, it’s best to post from your LinkedIn profile. For this purpose, the rules on timings are more clearly-defined.

When is the best time of day to post on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a professional network, which means users tend to log on during business hours of 9am and 5pm. This is when you have the best chances of maximising user engagement.

Research by SproutSocial suggests pre-lunchtime is the best time to post on LinkedIn. Apparently, users tend to tuck into their feed before their food, with 10am to 11am appearing as the two periods with the highest engagement. 

When is the best day of the week to post on LinkedIn?

In terms of days of the week, SproutSocial names Tuesday and Wednesday as prime posting real estate.  

On Monday, people are still catching up after the weekend, so it’s good to keep this as a buffer day. Monday is also a much slower workday for employees thanks to the advent of remote working, making it a smart decision to save your best material for hump day.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are similarly a no-go for work-related posts. Users are usually out of work-mode by the weekend and are far less likely to tune into professional news or updates at this time. 

When is the best time for brands to post on LinkedIn?

Sharing a company update, such as a new hire on product announcement, as a brand or business owner is slightly different to posting from your LinkedIn profile. That’s because a company page needs to consider:

• Industry
• Target audience
• Brand objectives

1. Industry

What makes an ‘ideal’ posting time on LinkedIn is often pre-determined by the sector the company is based in. 

B2B businesses like marketing or accounting tend to work traditional work hours. For them, posting during the workday (think lunchtime or between meetings) might be most effective.

B2C businesses, like those in the hospitality sector, will usually be checking LinkedIn in the early mornings or evenings as they are less likely to be online during the day.

Certain sectors see little to no engagement. For example, SproutSocial finds that in shipping, where work is typically carried out on-site, the only time period that saw engagement was Monday morning. Firms in this sector might consider alternate networking options.

2. Target audience

Think about ‘who’ is reading your post, not just ‘how many’. Grabbing attention is one thing but – as any sales team will tell you – a few high-quality leads are better than ten random bots liking your post.

Knowing your industry helps here. Equally important is location. If you want to comment on a topic related to US business, for example, remember to schedule your post so that it fits within the business hours of the United States’ six time zones.

Similarly, consider job roles. For example, founders tend to network in the evening, as they’re busy with business tasks in the day, while journalists are usually online much earlier in the day so they can stay ahead of the news cycle.

3. Objectives

Finally, it’s important to ask yourself what you want to achieve with your post. This can help you to calculate when your intended audience would be most likely to engage with it.

For example, commenting on something topical should obviously be done in a timely manner, to capitalise on a story being in the spotlight. Time these kinds of posts around lunch breaks to invite conversation and discussion.

Conversely, if you want to generate new leads for the business, it’s best to post at a time when decision-makers are online (most likely early in the morning for B2B businesses).

Other tips to maximise LinkedIn engagement

In a study conducted by Socialinsider, researchers identified several other details that can impact a post’s success on LinkedIn, beyond just date and time.

Socialinsider analysed posts shared on the website between January 2022 and December 2023. The results provide the following digital marketing tips for users seeking to maximise their reach on the site:

• Share multiple images or video content to improve click through rates (CTRs)
• Interact with your audience via polls to build rapport with existing customers
• Shrink your captions to capture the poor attention spans of today’s internet users
• Use LinkedIn analytics to tailor strategy based on how previous content performs 
• Use emotive language to create a sense of urgency, excitement, or intrigue

LinkedIn influencing

Another method that many organisations now lean towards is hiring brand ambassadors. And no, that doesn’t mean paying a blonde man in lycra to market your software brand.

Instead, select (and, crucially, willing) employees are encouraged to share company messaging on their own LinkedIn profiles. Because these are more authentically generated, they are far more likely to garner likes and shares than a company’s faceless brand page.

Customers can also play a supporting role in your LinkedIn strategy. While firms usually focus on using LinkedIn to attract new leads, targeting content towards existing customers can serve to transform them into customer advocates. 

These are vocal supporters who endorse your brand by interacting with it, sharing it with friends, family, and followers by word of mouth.

Related reading:

• Guide to Instagram analytics
• Guide to the LinkedIn Selling Index
• How to sell on TikTok